Spanish Language Bloghttp://blogs.transparent.com/spanish
Language and Culture of the Spanish-Speaking WorldWed, 16 Aug 2017 13:00:22 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.1http://www.transparent.com/learn-spanish/http://www.transparent.com/images/logo.pngTransparent LanguageLucha Libre in Mexicohttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpanishArticles/~3/1iUSTOc6rA4/
http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/lucha-libre-in-mexico/#respondWed, 16 Aug 2017 13:00:22 +0000http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/?p=10804Continue reading]]>Lucha libre is a huge part of Mexican culture. The high-flying, masked luchadores attract thousands of fans to arenas across the country all throughout the year. The biggest fight nights can be seen at Arena Mexico in DF and Arena Coliseo in Guadalajara.

Mexican wrestling in DF and Guadalajara!

Check out some highlights of the action in and out of the ring in this short video!

]]>http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/lucha-libre-in-mexico/feed/0http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/lucha-libre-in-mexico/English Spanish Vocabulary – Hiking Senderismohttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpanishArticles/~3/bl_-MRal0Z0/
http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/english-spanish-vocabulary-hiking-senderismo/#commentsMon, 14 Aug 2017 09:08:11 +0000http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/?p=10726Build your repertoire of Spanish words little by little by tuning in to these biweekly posts on English-Spanish vocabulary. You will find lots of really useful words on essential everyday topics, complete with audio mp3 recordings to help you with the Spanish pronunciation. Enjoy!

By the way… want more free language learning resources, advice, and news from Transparent Language? Sign up for our newsletter!

[hsform formId=”bd22ab8e-8cb2-4cb1-99c6-90ffb741b218″]

]]>http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/english-spanish-vocabulary-hiking-senderismo/feed/1http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/english-spanish-vocabulary-hiking-senderismo/A Guide to Lucha Librehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpanishArticles/~3/lBm1-Q-aR74/
http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/a-guide-to-lucha-libre/#respondWed, 09 Aug 2017 18:55:52 +0000http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/?p=10794Continue reading]]>As is the case in much of the Spanish-speaking world, football is definitely the most popular sport in Mexico. When it comes to uniquely Mexican sports, though, you just can’t beat the high-flying action of lucha libre. On any given Friday night, all 17,000 seats at Arena México are full of people cheering on their favorite luchador. Let’s take a closer look at this massively popular sport, starting with an important question.

What is Lucha Libre?

Lucha libre is a huge part of Mexican culture.

In Spanish, lucha libre literally means “free fight.” This style of wrestling got its start in Mexico way back in 1863 when Enrique Ugartechea developed a new form of Greco-Roman wrestling. A few decades later, and Mexico was in the midst of a bloody revolution. People sought distractions from the harsh realities of what was going on around them, and a couple of Italian businessmen started promoting lucha libre fights to do just that.

In 1933, Salvador Lutteroth González established the Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (Mexican Wrestling Organization). He was inspired by the professional wrestling matches he had seen in Texas, especially the characters and their colorful personalities. He decided to bring these kinds of shows back to his home country, with a focus on the lucha libre style. Within just a year, his shows were selling out and looking for larger venues. It should come as no surprise that he’s known as the “father of lucha libre” for his efforts. The league is still going strong under its current name of Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (World Wrestling Council). While González made it a national sport, one wrestler in particular helped catapult lucha libre to a cultural phenomenon.

El Santo

A mural of luchadores in Arena Coliseo.

In 1942, a wrestler named Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata (Saint, the Silver Masked Man) stepped into the squared circle for the first time. Wearing a silver mask, he won an 8-man battle royal and the affection of the crowd. He went on to have a career spanning five decades, usually simply referred to as El Santo (The Saint). His real name was Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta, and he also appeared in countless movies and comic books, becoming a real-life superhero for his adoring fans. After retiring, he famously removed his mask on a television program for the first time ever in public. Just a week later, he died from a heart attack. According to his wishes, he was buried in his legendary silver mask. His youngest son continues his legacy to this day, wrestling as El Hijo del Santo (The Son of the Saint).

Style

Masks and figures for sale outside the arena.

While the máscara (mask) is an integral part of lucha libre, not every wrestler wears one. Many begin their career as an enmascarado (masked wrestler) but will be unmasked at some point in their career. This usually happens in a special bout that results in one wrestler losing their mask. In fact, luchas de apuestas (matches with wages) are a big part of the show. Here are just a few examples:

máscara contra máscara = mask vs. mask

máscara contra cabellera = mask vs. hair

máscara o cabellera contra retiro = mask or hair vs. career

The card for a full night of matches.

When it comes to the storyline of lucha libre, it basically boils down to the age-old battle between good and evil. One one side, you’ve got the técnicos (good guys) who follow the rules and are loved by the crowd. On the other, you’ve got the rudos (bad guys) who often cheat and attempt to unmask their opponents. Most matches are de dos a tres caídas (2 out of 3 falls) and involve multiple competitors. There are parejas (2 on 2), trios (3 on 3), and atomicos (4 on 4) tag team matches in lucha libre.

The action is generally quite fast-paced, with plenty of high-flying aerial maneuvers. As far as the rules go, it’s quite similar to professional wrestling in the US. Matches end by pinning your opponent’s shoulders to the mat for a 3-count or making them submit. Sometimes, a match ends in a count out or disqualification.

Seeing Lucha Libre in Person

The arena is packed!

While it’s popular all across the country, your best bet for catching a fight night in person are in the big cities. Matches happen at Arena México in the capital every Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday. In Guadalajara, you can head to Arena Coliseo on either Tuesday or Sunday. There are plenty of vendors outside of the arenas selling masks, figures, and t-shirts if you’d like to bring home a souvenir. Be advised that you’re not allowed to bring a camera in, so you’ll have to check it if you do. Of course, everyone ends up snapping photos and videos on their cell phones these days.

Look at these seats!

As a life-long wrestling fan, seeing lucha libre in both cities has been a highlight of my six months living in Mexico and I’d highly recommend attending if you get the chance. Whereas $20 will barely get you in the door to a big WWE event in the US, that will buy you ringside seats at a lucha libre show. Grab an ice cold michelada from one of the countless vendors, sit back, and enjoy the action!

]]>http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/a-guide-to-lucha-libre/feed/0http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/a-guide-to-lucha-libre/Beginner Spanish Listening Practice – Lesson 21 Personality & feelings (Part 2)http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpanishArticles/~3/g3GaEPz9dc0/
http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/beginner-spanish-listening-practice-lesson-21-personality-feelings-part-2/#respondMon, 07 Aug 2017 09:00:27 +0000http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/?p=10737In this Spanish lesson we will practice more about using el verbo estar (the verb to be) to describe personality and feelings in Spanish. As usual, first we will review some relevant grammar and vocabulary and then see if you can follow a short listening. This lesson continues on from the previous lesson in this course which also looked at using el verbo estar to describe personality and feelings.

This lesson is part of a Spanish course that practices the grammar and vocabulary first introduced in my beginner Spanish course posted here on the Transparent Language blog. Let’s test your listening comprehension and see if you can understand a short audio in Spanish. The transcript to the audio will be given at the end of the post but please try not to look at it until you have tried playing and understanding the audio a few times.

Use the following link to watch the corresponding video lesson of the original course:

Please familiarise yourself with the following words and phrases before listening to the audio below:

Estoy de vacaciones: I am on holiday.
¡Qué bien!: How good! / Great!
¿Por qué?: Why
Porque: Because
Conmigo: With me
Lo siento mucho: I am so sorry
Muy: Very

Now, play the audio below to listen to a conversation in Spanish between two people describing their personality and feelings. Can you understand what they are saying? Play the audio a few times before you look at the transcript. Don’t worry if you don’t understand every single thing the two people are saying. Try to catch whichever words you can and then try to piece things together to work out what is being said.

(Play the audio a few times before you scroll down and look at the transcript)

So, how did you get on? How much did you understand of the listening? Please let me know in the comments section below…

Don’t worry if you didn’t understand that much, keep reviewing the vocabulary and phrases and you will soon be up to speed and ready for the next lesson in this course. See you next time!

By the way… want more free language learning resources, advice, and news from Transparent Language? Sign up for our newsletter!

[hsform formId=”bd22ab8e-8cb2-4cb1-99c6-90ffb741b218″]

]]>http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/beginner-spanish-listening-practice-lesson-21-personality-feelings-part-2/feed/0http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/beginner-spanish-listening-practice-lesson-21-personality-feelings-part-2/Mi Familia (My Family)http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpanishArticles/~3/MZtlcBuas1Q/
http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/mi-familia-my-family/#commentsWed, 02 Aug 2017 17:52:57 +0000http://blogs.transparent.com/spanish/?p=10781Continue reading]]>One of the best ways for beginners of any language to practice is by talking about your family. By giving basic details such as name, age, and job for your family members, you get to practice making introductions several times. You can also practice asking other people about their family members to get you familiar with question words and structures. To help you out, here’s a Spanish lesson on “Mi Familia.” Let’s start with the Spanish vocabulary you’ll need.

family
parents
father
dad
mother
mom
children
son
daughter
siblings
brother
sister
spouse
husband
wife
grandparents
grandfather
grandmother
relatives
uncle
aunt
cousin
nephew
niece
grandchildren
grandson
granddaughter
father in law
mother in law
brother in law
sister in law
son in law
daughter in law
stepfather
stepmother
stepbrother
stepsister
stepson
stepdaughter
half brother
half sister

Question and Answer

Hermanos y hermanas

Now that you’ve got your family tree down en español, it’s time to do a little Q&A. Here are some common questions you might ask/get asked about family members:

¿Cómo se llama su…?
What is your …’s name?

Se llama/llamo…
Her/His name is…

¿En que trabaja (él/ella)?
What does he/she do?

(Él/ella) es…
He/she is a/an…

¿Cuántos años tiene (él/ella)?
How old is he/she?

(Él/ella) tiene… años.
He/she is… years old.

¿Dónde vive (él/ella)? ¿Dónde viven (ellos/ellas)?
Where does he/she live? Where do they live?

¿Tiene hijos (él/ella)?
Does he/she have children?

Note that once you’ve established the subject and their gender, you don’t really need to use pronouns in follow-up questions. If you’re continuing the conversation about the same person/people, you can drop the pronouns after the first question. Go ahead and try to answer some of those questions about people in your family to practice!

Mi Familia

Mi familia es muy grande!

Combine all of that and try to introduce your family in Spanish. I’ll go first! Keep in mind that I’m still a super beginner, so I’m focusing on the basics here.

My family is very large. I have six siblings – four brothers and two sisters. I am the oldest. I’m thirty-two years old.

My dad is a doctor and my mom is a nurse. Both work in a hospital.

I’m already married. My wife’s name is Rachel. She has only one brother. She also has a stepmother and stepfather. I like her family very much. We do not have children yet.

I have grandparents on my mother’s side. I also have many uncles, aunts, and cousins.

I don’t have any nephews or nieces yet, because my siblings are young.

That’s all for me – now it’s your turn! Practice in the mirror or with a friend, or leave a comment below in Spanish and let us know about you and your family. More advanced readers can feel free to show off a bit. The rest of us can learn from you!